N7 Special Operations Squad
by Ketsueki no Kuki
Summary: She wasn't a big Alliance fan. She didn't really like any kind of military. Then she got the chance to join the N7 Special Ops. It was created at the beginning of the war. Anyone with enough skills was accepted. So she joined. Who wouldn't want to fight Cerberus and the Reapers? It's been Hell ever since. OC/OC
1. Chapter 1

A growl escaped her lips, and dark emerald eyes narrowed into a glare. A swarm of purple energy surrounded the woman, and she smirked. The purple aura blasted from her body, slamming into the batarians that dared to stand in front of her. The force of her biotics pushed them over the edge of the bar in Purgatory, and they fell to the ground with a crash, frightening the patrons on the main ground. The three batarian snarled at her, quickly standing and pulling their guns out as she made her way down the stairs to them.

The sober civilians around them hurried out of the rooms, leaving the drunks to watch on in fascination. They pointed their weapons at the woman that blasted them with the biotic energy, but she wasn't threatened. With wicked grin, the same purple aura from before began to regulate around her right fist. Just as one of the batarians was about to pull the first shot, her glowing fist slammed into his face, pushing him back three yards into the wall of the bar. The other two began to fire, but she quickly put up a biotic field to try and prevent the shots from hitting her. It worked, for the most part, but one shot hit her in her arm.

Luckily, it wasn't her shooting arm, so she could still pull out her shot gun. Her grin widened when she saw the slimy bastards begin to panic, but before they could run, she fired two shots. Perfect head shots. That was when her luck turned. The doors opened and five men, two turians and three humans, strutted into the bar. They were dressed in white and blue armor; Citadel Security. Her grin quickly disappeared, and she looked around, trying to find an escape. She had officially run out of luck.

Seeing the gun in her hands and two dead batarians at her feet, one of the human C-Sec agents rushed over to her, demanding she drop the weapon. With a sigh, she did as she was told, lowering her gun onto the ground. She frowned as one of the turian officers grabbed her arms, moving them behind her back and using omni-cuffs on her wrists. Her heart filled with dread when she saw the turian officer's face. She knew him. Fuck.

The officer that cuffed her was a friend, Feros Corinthus. He was actually more like a cousin. His father was a general on Palaven's moon, and the sister to her mother. Adopted mother, anyway. Feros was frowning at her, disappointed in her. He escorted her to the Embassies, where they walked into the C-Sec office, where Commander Bailey sat, working on his datapad. When Bailey heard the door open, he looked over, sighing when he saw the two who entered.

"What was it this time, Valentine?" He asked, nodding to Feros to take the omni-cuffs off. Though the woman, Valentine, opened her mouth to speak, it was Feros who answered.

"She killed two batarians and knocked out a third." He told Bailey, giving a displeased look to his somewhat-cousin. Valentine rolled her bright blue eyes, and sighed once more.

"They pulled their guns out on me." She defended, huffing as she crossed her arms across her chest. Feros looked at her in disbelief, shaking his head.

"Witnesses are still being questioned. From what we've gathered so far, Val started the fight, resorted to biotics and pushed them off the ledge of the second floor, and then they pulled their weapons." Feros informed him, earning a glare from his friend. She hated how lawful he was. He was always tattling on her. Every time she accused him of doing so, he simply told her that if she would stop breaking the law, he'd stop turning her in. She laughed and called him a wuss.

"Is this true?" Bailey asked, frowning as he looked onto the young woman. Distressed under his patronizing gaze, she began to fidget.

"Yes, Sir." She answered truthfully, avoiding his eyes, knowing she would only find disappointment in them.

"What am I going to do with you?" Bailey wondered rhetorically, shaking his head before looking back at the datapad he had in his hand.

"You're free this time," Bailey informed her, giving her a cautious glance, "But don't cause any more trouble." A wide grin appeared on her face as she realized he was letting her go, but that enjoyment was short lived.

"Also, Councilor Udina needs you in his office. Head there first, see what he wants." Curious, she idly wondered why Udina needed to see her. He wasn't very fond of her, or her step-father for that matter. Her grin disappearing, she nodded, before turning to leave, Feros right behind her.

"I will, Daddy." Valentine responded, before exiting her father, Commander Bailey's, office. Feros walked with her to Councilor Udina's office, making sure she did as she promised. He knew if he didn't keep an eye on her, she'd never go meet with Udina, and instead head back to Purgatory. She rolled her eyes at his behavior, but didn't say anything.

When she walked into the Human Councilor's office, she was greeted by a holographic comm channel of Admiral David Anderson. Her step-father.

Frowning for what felt like the millionth time that day, she walked over to the comm and stood in front of the holograph. "Valentine." Her step-father greeted, his eyes showing the same disappointment Bailey's had, "I've been hearing about all your little stunts." He informed her, eliciting another sigh from her lips.

"I have reasons-" She began, but the Admiral interrupted her, "I don't want to hear them." He stated. Pouting, she looked away, remaining silent.

"You can't keep doing things like this, Valentine. You need discipline." Her step-father commented. She snapped her eyes to the hologram, ready to explain the situation.

"Dad has me registered for C-Sec training next week." She told him. Bailey actually had her registered for the training last week. And the week before, and all the other weeks before since last year. She hadn't made a single one of them. She was a busy woman. The bars called to her, she couldn't just ignore them and go to some boring class on maintaining the laws of the Citadel. Drinking and dancing and sex... it was all so much more fun than security training.

"C-Sec won't be enough to straighten you out." Anderson grunted. Worry began to fill her very being. Anderson was an Alliance marine. He was fighting on Earth. She had told him countless times how she had no interest in joining the Alliance. She hoped to God that he hadn't somehow set her up in a training class for the Alliance.

"What exactly do you have in mind?" Valentine asked him cautiously.

"I've decided to put you in training for the N7 Special Operations." He answered, leaving her in shock. She knew about the N7 program. It only accepted the best of the best. She was certainly amazing in her skills, but the strings Anderson had to have pulled to get her in training for the Special Ops... well, she couldn't say she didn't like the idea of being an N7 Operative. If she passed the training, she could go on missions and actually make use of her skills. It wasn't a bad idea, but that still meant actually training.

"I can tell you're thinking about this, but you don't have to." Her step-father suddenly stated, "You don't have a choice. Two operatives will appear at your door tomorrow morning and every morning after to escort you to the training grounds." She couldn't believe this. Before, when she thought she had a choice, she was actually considering it. Now that she knew she didn't have a choice, she was against it. Something that never left her when she went through her rebellious teenager phase. She was seriously pissed, to say the least. Without even a goodbye, the comm ended.

Absolutely enraged, Valentine made her way out the door, storming past Feros, who had been so kind as to wait for her. Shocked at her sudden anger, he moved from his leaning stance against the wall and walked quickly to catch up with her before she reached the elevator. When the doors to the elevator closed, and Feros directed the machine to take them to the Zakara Ward Apartments, she finally let loose and punched the metal wall of the elevator.

"My step-dad signed me up for N7 Special Ops training." Valentine hissed as she retracted her fist from the wall. Her knuckles were bleeding, but it was well worth it to cause that dent in the wall. No doubt she'd have to pay for it, though.

"I thought you always wanted to be in that program?" Feros inquired, looking at her curiously as she rolled her eyes.

"Well, yeah, but that was before he told me I had no choice." She explained, exasperated.

"Would you have taken the offer if you did have a choice?" He asked.

"I dunno," Valentine sighed as she looked down at her feet. The elevator dinged, and the doors opened, signalling they were at the Zakera Ward. They both walked out, heading to the north wing Apartment Complex, "Maybe." She answered.

"I did want to be a part of the N7 program, but then there's drinking and sex. Anderson expects me to commit to the program, but I don't know if I'm ready for that. I want to enjoy being young." She explained.

"You're not young." Feros stated, completely serious. With a small grin, she elbowed him.

"No wonder you don't have a girlfriend." She laughed. They were getting closer to her apartment. She kind of wanted to stay with him, knowing that the second she was left alone she'd have to do some serious thinking.

"Yeah, well, you're sort of the biggest cock-block there is." Feros retorted, grinning right back at her. They had reached her apartment building, the 'Firefly Complex', and he had to get back to work.

"Anyway, I need to get back to work. Please try to be good and not break any more laws." He requested. She grinned widely and laughed, and he had his answer. He didn't really know what to do, so he put his talons on her shoulder, nodded at her, then left. He was trying to comfort her in her decision making, but he was pretty sure it just came out as awkward. Oh well, better luck next time.

Now alone, she made her way into the elevator of her apartment building, heading to the twentieth floor. The elevator in the building was much faster than the one in the Embassies, and she reached her floor in no time. Her door was just down the hall from the elevator. As soon as she got into her room, the lights automatically turning on and the door closing behind her, she let out another sigh and plopped down, face first, onto her couch.

Though her step-father said she didn't have a choice- that two operatives would escort her to the training grounds- there were ways to get out of it. They couldn't escort her if they couldn't find her. She was good at hiding. But she had to think about what she wanted... Did she want to be an N7 Special Operator? Or did she want to continue living her through her twenties as a normal civilian woman. She knew her dad would only be able to bail her out of trouble for so long. He was reluctant even now, thinking a few months in a cell might do her some good.

Moaning in desperation, she sat up from the white leather couch and turned the television on. Opening up her omnitool, she moved to the remote function and found exactly what she wanted to watch. Her absolute favorite movie.

'Fleet and Flotilla'

She had seen it over a million times. It always cleared her mind and made her feel better. With an excited squeal, she started the movie, before jumping up from her seat and rushing over to the kitchen. After digging through the pantry, she pulled out a bag of popcorn and shoved it in the microwave. A minute later, and the popcorn was perfectly popped. She dumped the bag into a large bowl, grabbing a beer from the fridge, and rushed back to the couch. It didn't take her long to become completely engrossed in the movie.

When the movie ended and the credits began to roll on the screen, she was clutching a pillow for dear life, dry tear streaks on her cheeks and puffy red eyes. There were three empty bottles of beer scattered across the coffee table in front of her, and the popcorn bowl was completely empty. With a shuddering gasp, she wiped the rest of her tears away. Now emotionally exhausted, she was ready for bed. She had decided to attend the N7 training, instead of running and hiding. She would just have to deal with the lack of booze and sex. So after cleaning up her mess and flicking the television off, she made her way to bed. She barely even had her clothes off by the time her head hit the mattress. She drifted to sleep.

* * *

So this story was recently taken down due to a report. I've been talking with the reporter, and they didn't see that the OC form wasn't in the story, that there were no reviews of submissions, and that there was actual story content. So it was a blinded accident.

ONE OC PER PERSON. Please go to my profile and fill out the form there, then submit it through PM. NO MORE INFILTRATORS!


	2. Chapter 2

She wasn't exactly a light sleeper; she had slept through Geth the attack on the Citadel, though it wasn't really her fault. No one bothered to wake her up. Despite this, she wasn't too deep of a sleeper to not wake up when someone touched her.

Her eyes snapped open when she felt a cold, hard touch on her forearm. Without even thinking, her biotics acted, the purple aura moving over her right arm, pushing the thing that was touching her away. She sat up in a hurry, only for her other arm to be snatched by what she knew was a hand. Furious, though still incredibly tired, she looked to the person that dare to break into her room.

She was shocked when she found an Asari standing next to her bed, a mean look on her face. Big blue eyes were narrowed into a glare, and her lips, painted blood red, were raised in a snarl. A blue energy began to surround the alien, but she didn't use her biotics. It was as though she was warning, or maybe taunting, Valentine.

The Asari had light purple skin- or maybe it was scales? She didn't really know- with blood red markings on her face, coating her lips and swirling around her eyes, falling into painted lines down her tentacle-hair-things. She wasn't an expert on Asari. She barely knew the body parts of a human, let alone an alien.

Taking the biotic flare as a taunt, Valentine summoned her own biotic energy, and lashed it towards the Asari. Unfortunately for her, the Asari managed to block the attack, holding up a barrier. Before Valentine could attack again, the same cold, hard thing that had woken her up (now that she wasn't groggy, she could tell they were talons) had returned to her forearms, pulling her arms behind her back. Hissing when she felt the familiar sting of omni-cuffs, she turned her head to glare at the turian that cuffed her.

She was half-expecting it to be Feros again. She didn't know why he would be cuffing her at this ungodly hour (unless he was planning to rape her, of course), but she was disappointed when she found a different face. She had no idea who this Turian was, and didn't know why he decided to break into her apartment and handcuff her.

He wasn't ugly though. Then again, she didn't really know how Turian standards worked. He had light brown plates, and a familiar white warpaint, and insanely bright green eyes. It didn't take her long to remember that the Turian Councilor had the same warpaint/tattoo/whatever it was on his face.

Pushing aside that he may or may not be related to the Turian Councilor, she put together the information she had gathered from this little attack. From what she knew, this was not how rape worked most of the time. So that clearly wasn't the case here.

The Asari stopped the flow of her biotics, and stood tall in front of her, a smirk on her lips. Valentine wanted so badly to rip that fucking smirk right off, along with the rest of her face.

"Valentine Sanders-Bailey, Admiral Anderson has you ordered to attend the N7 Special Operations Squad." The Turian spoke, his rough voice speaking into her ear.

God, Anderson wasn't kidding when he said two N7 elites would force her into the training. What time was it, anyway? She peaked over the Asari's shoulder to look at her alarm clock, only to see that it was five in the goddamn morning. _Five._ She could not believe these assholes broke into her apartment, found their way to her room, and woke her up at _five in the fucking morning_. Even a rapist would at least let her sleep through the rape.

That was when she remembered her odd sleeping habits. She looked down at her legs, eyes going wide when she didn't see what she was hoping she would see. Pants.

She wasn't wearing any. For some weird reason, ever since she was sixteen, she would take her clothes off in her sleep. She would go to bed with a shirt and some pajama pants, and wake up without any underwear, or without a shirt, or without her pants. It was fine though, because she didn't normally have intruders in her room pulling her out of bed at five in the morning.

"I am Serelles T'riion, one of the N7 Elite leaders." The Asari introduced herself. Neither of the aliens took notice of Valentine's lack of pants. Of course she had underwear, but still. She didn't know these people. She didn't want to be prancing around in her underwear in front of them.

"Achilles Sparatus. I'm also an N7 Elite, and I'll be the leader of your squad, under Anderson's request." The Turian informed her, his grip on her forearms never lessening. She at least got something. He was, in fact, related to the Turian Councilor. They shared the same face paint/tattoo and surname. But she still wasn't wearing pants, and they were both uncomfortably close to a pants-less woman that didn't want to be pants-less.

"That's great and all, but can I put some pants on?" Valentine finally decided to ask, forcing silence onto the two intruders. They both looked down at her bare legs, and saw that she really wasn't wearing any pants.

The Asari, Serelles, glared as she nodded. Achilles just gave her a toothy grin, before letting go of her arms and stepping away. She let out an angry sigh when she realized the cuffs weren't coming off, so this was gonna take a while.

She located the bottoms of the Alliance Military outfit Anderson had given her, in hopes she would join the Alliance, lying on the floor. With a determined grunt, she slid down onto the hardwood floor, sitting right across from the pants she planned on wearing. One foot slid into the waist of the clothing, and she pulled it closer to her, before slipping her second foot in. With some wiggling, she managed to get both legs where they were supposed to go, with her feet sticking out at the bottom. Now she just had to pull the pants up to her hips.

"Alright. Let's do this." She muttered to herself, before sprawling her hands out above her head, and resting her head on the ground. Her palms twisted so they were pressing against the wood, and she began to raise her hips to the ceiling, her feet standing on the ground as her back arched.

"You're pretty damn flexible." She heard Achilles state. She didn't even have to look at him to know he was grinning.

Ignoring him, her feet moved backwards, before pushing themselves off the ground, sliding into the air. With her body off the ground, only her hands holding her up, the waist of the pants began to slide down, falling to her hips. With her work almost completed, she flopped back down to the ground, before pushing herself back on her feet. Now all she had to do was zip and buckle the damn thing.

Twisting as far as she could, her fingers were able to grab the zipper and pull it up. After that, she easily clasped the belt and untwisted her body. She had done this many times before. Feros had come into her room and cuffed her over some bar fight or another, and she had been in lack of some item of clothing. At first, she tried to use her biotics, and it worked pretty well, but it was boring. This way was much more challenging.

Though Achilles looked impressed, Serelles did not change her stoic expression. She walked over to Valentine, grabbed her left arm, and started towards the door, Achilles following close behind.

"We are going to the Citadel N7 Special Operations Academy. You will be introduced to the other operatives and our Commander will assign you a team of two other operatives and a leader. As you already know, Achilles Sparatus will be your squad leader." Serelles explained as they made their way to the elevator.

"After you have been assigned your squad and meet with your fellow operatives, you will be escorted back to your apartment, where you will gather all your necessities. Once you have the bare minimum you need, we will report to docking bay D6, where we will board the N7 Special Operations Frigate, also known as the 'Rebellion'. However, any actual rebellion against the N7 program or the Alliance will be disbanded and thrown off the ship immediately." She continued. Valentine barely managed not to roll her eyes. The woman was so uptight, it was almost sad. Like, really? What did Serelles do in her free-time? She seemed the time to read the terms and conditions agreement, and read through instruction manuals and all that boring shit. Valentine was just glad she wasn't the leader for her squad.

Though… glancing at Achilles, she began to wonder if he would really be a good leader. He seemed a little… impish. That, and he was related to the Turian Councilor, so he could have just been given the leader position because of that. She supposed there would be time for him to prove his skills later, though.

While Valentine was lost in her thoughts, Serelles continued to babble on, stating all the rules and regulations. It wasn't until they had walked through the doors of the N7 Special Operations base that Serelles finally stopped talking.

The three walked into a large room that Valentine could tell was a training room. There were dummies and mats set up throughout the room. There were about twenty people in the room. Some of them looked like seasoned warriors, others… not so much. But they all stood proud. At the front of the room was a man dressed in Alliance blues, and he spoke out to the crowed with a powerful voice.

"You're here because you're the best of the best. We need the best right now. With Cerberus attacking and the Reapers hitting all our planets, we need heros. Welcome to the N7 Special Operations Task Force."

* * *

I NEED TEAM NAMES. You know, like "Team Mako", that sort of thing. Just send in a name you like. I'll be picking four.

* * *

Alright! There's the second chapter. Well, part of it anyway. I decided to divide what I was writing in two, that way I can post the OCs now.

So, here is a list of the selected OCs. This includes the teams and team leaders!:

* * *

Team Chimera-

Leader: Nectro Veros (Batarian Sentinel)

Squad:

-Rosalia Amaro (Vanguard)

-Vincent King (Infiltrator)

-Talon Karrde (Adept)

* * *

Team Delta-

Leader: Serelles T'riion (Asari Justicar)

Squad:

-Geralt Smith (Soldier)

-Elias'Beraforte nar Raaya vas Rannock (Infiltrator)

-Varieie'Shoreh nar Raaya vas Allerai (Engineer)

* * *

Team Thresher-

Leader: Urdnot Axxe (Krogan Warlord)

Squad:

-Project Delta (Geth Trooper)

-Asallia Rehearted (Adept)

-T.J Montgomery *Vanguard)

* * *

Team Thannex-

Leader: Achilles Sparatus (Turian Havoc)

Squad:

-Valentine Sanders-Bailey (N7 Adept)

-Zarik'Korris vas Qwib-Qwib nar Shellen (Engineer)

-Nathaniel Grove (Infiltrator)

* * *

Team Atlas-

Leader: Rio Bilene (Salarian Infiltrator)

Squad:

-Michael Bauer (Engineer)

-Thomas Fedrill (Vanguard)

-Eons (Geth Juggernot)


	3. Chapter 3

The man who had introduced all the new operatives to the program, Nullan Davids, had a pretty nice welcoming speech, but that meant nothing to Valentine. Speeches were fine, but they didn't do much. You want to pump some soldiers up for war? Show them the damage the creatures they were fighting caused. Speeches are nothing but talk. If you want to prove yourself, you have to walk the walk.

That's why fighting is so great. It solves so many problems in one person. It's a great stress-relief, for one. It can either help or hinder people, which can be both positive and negative depending on who you're fighting for. And it proves something. Strength. The weak don't deserve respect, only the strong do. Fighting was a great way to figure out who deserves that respect, and who doesn't.

So the second Nullan informed them what they would fighting against, training to kill, she was on board. Reapers and Cerberus. How could she not say yes to killing these bastards? She had reasons to hate both of them. The Reapers were killing humans, turians, quarians, everyone… and they were turning them against one another. Then there was Cerberus. She was never fond of them, even before they went crazy with power after that Commander Shepard blew up the Collector base, and ditched the terrorists.

Obviously, it was going to be easy, but she didn't really care about that. She's not really the type to worry. She always left that to her parents, or Feros. Worrying only hurt her game. Besides, her step-dad wouldn't put her in this program if he didn't think she could handle it.

However… with all good news, there's bad news. Always is, always has been. It was like some kind of life rule. So where the good news was she would get to kill both Reapers and Cerberus, the bad news was she was going to be in a team, under the leadership of a Turian flirt. She didn't know which of these other operatives were going to be in her team, she was just begging she wouldn't be stuck with someone that would get in her way.

"N7 Elite Leaders, stand in position." Nullan ordered. Immediately, Serelles and Achilles left her side, moving to the front of the room. Six people stood with Nullan, looking out into the crowd of operatives. One by one, Nullan introduced them.

"Leader of team Delta, Serelles T'riion." The asari bitch stood tall, her face absolutely stoic, as it had been all day.

"Leader of team Thannex, Achilles Sparatus." He grinned, his sharp teeth showing and causing his grin to look somewhat… crazy.

"Leader of team Chimera, Nectro Veros." A batarian. The left side of his face was completely burned, but to be honest, she barely even noticed a difference between him and a normal Batarian. Ugh, the one species Valentine loathed with her entire being. He stood proud, but he looked filthy, just like all of his kind. She couldn't believe one of them was an N7 leader, let alone allowed in the N7 program at all. They were murders, slavers, mercenaries, and criminals.

"Leader of team Thresher, Urdnot Axxe." The next leader was a Krogan, and a badass one at that. He smirked at the crowed, letting out a rough chuckle. He was covered in scars. Three, in particular, stood out to her. She recognized the shape and the depth as Turian talons. They ran over his dark grey crest, falling down and just barely managing to avoid his stark white eyes. She wondered at first if he was blind, but the pupils informed her they were just unusual white eyes. He wore bloodpack armor, but that didn't surprise her. The N7 was clearly desperate. They had been calling in batarians for Godsake. Mercenaries weren't a problem compared to those slimy bastards. Though she would have loved to be in team Thresher with the Krogan as her leader, she was just glad she wasn't stuck with that Batarian, Nectro.

"Leader of team Atlas, Rio Bilene." The next leader was a Salarian. She had seen a lot of Salarian's throughout the Citadel. They were smart. She wasn't surprised he was an N7 Special Ops Leader. Though she was surprised at how tall he was. Seriously, the guy stood at six'five, maybe even more. He was the tallest Salarian she had seen. And the pinkest. He was pink. That was a bit unusual. Valentine wasn't too sure if that was natural, or happened because he had been on some planet with a strong sun, but it was pretty… interesting. Certainly brought a smile to her lips. She couldn't imagine what Cerberus would think going up against a pink Salarian.

"And leader of team Optic, Misako T'Veer." The last leader was another Asari. She looked much more generic than Serelles, with blue skin (scales, whatever) and maroon markings. She definitely looked friendlier and more open than Serelles.

And that was it. Only six leaders. All aliens. To think that N7 used to be a pure human operation. Don't get her wrong, she liked aliens. Her mom, or rather, her dad's wife, was a turian. It was a good kind of different, but it was definitely showing that they were desperate.

"When I call your name, come up here and stand by your leader." God, what were they in, grade school? Valentine rolled her eyes at how the commander was handling this.

"Team Delta. Geralt Smith," A human male walked forth and joined the high-strung Asari. At first glance, Valentine figured he was almost as cold and prickly as Serelles. He had black hair that passed his ears by an inch, olive skin, and an N7 tattoo on his neck, only slightly covered by his hair. He had muscle, and looked tough, but something about the way he walked… Valentine knew he wasn't exactly friendly and overjoyed.

"Nathaniel Grove." The human that walked forth wasn't really human, actually. He was mostly cybernetic, which was something you don't see too often. His right eye was covered in a mechanical eyepatch, and his right arm was cybernetic. He had black dreadlocks that fell to his shoulders, a dark grey left eye, and dark skin.

"... and Varieie'Shoreh nar Raaya vas Allerai." Another Quarian, a female this time, with a stark white suit and matching visor. She didn't walk like the other two before her did, with determination and strength. She sort of… skipped. Well, hurried, really. She looked incredibly nervous.

"Team Thannex. Valentine Sanders-Bailey." She was wondering if she should walk up, or make a run for it. Sure, she had always wanted to be in the N7 program, but now that she was being forced to do it… the rebellious teenager inside her wanted to get the hell outta here. Of course, she wasn't a teenager anymore.

Even if she was going to run, she wouldn't be able to. Achilles had strutted down to her, and grabbed her forearm, pulling her back to the front. God, she hated being pulled around. She had half a mind not to toss him around the room. Unfortunately, he was definitely stronger than she was. She could tell just by his grip on her arm.

The thought even crossed her mind to simply go limp. To fall to the ground like she was dead, and make Achilles pull her unmoving body just to make things harder for him. Though she was entirely against being forced to do something, even if it was something she wanted to do, she wasn't stupid enough to embarrass herself like that. It'd probably be amusing, though.

As she stood at Achilles' side, she looked out onto the crowd of the operatives she would be fighting with. It was… well, it wasn't what she was expecting. Though to be honest, she had no clue what she was expecting. The N7 official program was just for humans. Then the Reapers came, and Cerberus starting attacking, and then the N7 Special Operations Task Force was started. It was unofficial, and thus allowed aliens to join in the fight… so she didn't know what she was expecting.

The crowd was mostly humans, but there were a few Asari, two more Quarians, another Krogan, another Salarian, a Drell, and a Turian. Surprisingly enough… there were also two geth. The entire crowd just looked like a big band of misfits. There were people of every personality and every class here. Those that stood tall and strong, those that fidgeted and bit their lips, and those that were barely containing themselves from jumping up and down with grins on their faces.

"Zarik'Korris vas Qwib-Qwib nar Shellen," Nullan continued calling names, and one of the Quarians of the crowd walked forth. His visor was black, with the gleam of his eyes striking in white, and his suit was blood red. He was unusually muscular for a Quarian, and he also seemed unfriendly. He moved to stand next to her, never even sparing her a glance.

"and Elias'Beraforte nar Raaya vas Rannock,"Another Quarian, though she figured as much from his name. Unlike the one that joined before him, he was lanky, with a green suit and white stripes on his hood. There wasn't really anything to differentiate him from any other Quarian, since their faces were always hidden by a tinted visor. It always puzzled her why they didn't use clear visors. Maybe it was some religious thing not to show their faces or something.

"Team Chimera. Rosalia Amaro," The first human woman, besides herself, stepped up and took her place by the Batarian. She was petite, but also seemed a bit muscular. She had short chocolate brown hair that fell just down to her shoulders, and bright blue eyes. She actually seemed kinda short, but she walked proudly enough that Valentine recognized she would do alright.

"Vincent King," Another human, a man this time, walked forth. He had dark, olive skin, and a shaved head that left a black stubble behind. His eyes were both dark brown, but upon closer examination, Valentine saw the tell-tale signs of a contact in his left eye. He looked much more laidback than the other men here.

"And Talon Karrde." The lone Drell of the crowd was the last to join the Batarian's team. She hadn't seen many Drell in her life, but he was definitely different than the others. His throat was wine red, which was normal… but the rest of his skin was a silver-green. It looked, well, strange to say the least. He was always wearing what seemed to be an antique duster.

"Team Thresher. Delta," One of the Geth moved quickly to stand near the Krogan. He was a standard Geth, with white plates and wires. The only thing she could see that differentiated him from the others was the green light that replaced what was normally red. It was shocking to find a Geth wanting to work with them. She had heard about Commander Shepard working with a Geth, but for the N7 to work with two of them… it just shouted that they were desperate even louder.

"Asallia Rehearted," Another Asari dashed over. As she stood next to Axxe and Delta, she avoided eye contact with the crowd, instead choosing to stare at her feet and fidget. She had dark purple skin, with bright pink markings swirling around her eyes, and falling in artistic curves down her cheeks. She was very lanky, and unusually flat-chested for an Asari. From the side, she practically looked thin as a datapad.

"And T.J Montgomery." Another human male. He had messy, raven black hair that was swept behind his ears, out of his face, and dark chocolate brown eyes with tan skin. Unlike some of the other men, he was a bit lankier, though still muscular.

"Team Atlas. Eons," The second Geth, much larger than the first, moved to stand by the unusually tall Salarian. Seeing the two of them standing next to each other was almost hilarious. Though the Salarian, Rio, was tall for his kind, Eons stood much taller and much wider. There was about a two foot height difference. This Geth's plates were blood red, and his eye optical was pure white.

"Thomas Fedrill," Yet another human guy. This one was awkwardly pale, with short, black hair and hazel eyes. Other than his paleness that made him look like he was dying, he looked pretty normal. He was muscular, and stood tall. Relatively average.

"And Michael Bauer." Another human male stepped forth to stand next to Rio and his team. He looked slightly similar to other guy; pale skin, but not as pale as Thomas, and shaggy black hair. Though Thomas was muscular, this guy was lean. Though he seemed to be the only one to be growing a beard, he was pretty average.

"Lastly, Team Optic. Kassus," The Turian moved to stand next to the more pleasant Asari, but there was something about him that had Valentine on edge. The way he walked was more like a stalk, like an animal stalking it's prey. He also had black plates, something she had only seen on two turians in her entire life. His face was left bare of any markings, though he did have strange blue lines flowing throughout his body. They weren't very visible on his plates, just a glazed blue glow, but they were brighter and more profound on the skin of his neck. Even his grey eyes showed some small blue lines wondering within the iris.

Something about him was different. Not unsettling, necessarily… it was exciting in a way. He was grinning like a maniac, and the vibe he gave off was… some sort of psychopathic joy. He reminded her of an old Krogan friend, which was weird to say about a Turian.

"Urdnot Rackam," The Krogan followed behind the Turian. He looked tough, as all Krogan did. His midnight blue crest was covered in scars, but none of them hit his face. His eyes were a dull orange. He was much bigger than the other Krogan in the room, Axxe.

"And Selion Zorhent." The last one standing was a Salarian. He was incredibly white, with light blue surrounding his eyes, though his eyes were grey. He was much shorter than Rio, and much lankier, as well.

That was it. There were no other operatives. Valentine was a little shocked by the lack of human females, but to be honest, she wasn't really expecting more. From what she could tell, this N7 Special Ops Squad was full of outcasts. Maybe that wasn't quite the right word, but none of the humans were really Alliance material, and all the aliens were working for what used to be an all-human program.

"Alright. You will all return to your homes and pack only what you absolutely need. In exactly one hour, report to docking bay D6. You will be boarding the Rebellion." Nullan explained, moving so he was standing where the crowd of operatives once stood, looking out to the newly placed teams.

"You will be training with your squad on the Rebellion, where there is a full level with a training ground. Aboard the ship will be your advisor and captain, Deraan Jones. Missions will be given to him for him to assign. These missions may be against Geth, Reapers, Cerberus, or even standard mercenaries. Your job is to follow Captain Jones' orders to the smallest detail. Should you ignore these orders, you will be kicked out on the next shore leave and not assigned another mission until then. It is up to Captain Jones to decide how to dispatch the missions." The way he dulled through this speech was like he was reciting instructions he had read a million times before. Valentine idly wondered if he wrote a script and memorized it.

"Now, go get your absolute necessities. Report to docking bay D6 in exactly sixty minutes or you will suffer the consequences." Nullan finished.

Thanking God that it was finally over, Valentine let out a sigh, before setting off to the doors she came through. Unfortunately, though not unexpected, Achilles followed her. The second she was out the door, she turned around to face him with a raised eyebrow and a frown.

"Sorry, Val. Anderson's orders." Achilles apologized, though he didn't seem very sorry.

"Okay, no. No, no, no. Do not call me 'Val'." Valentine demanded, emerald eyes narrowing into a glare at the name, "Only friends call me that. Not my superior-slash-parole officer." She added with a growl.

"_'Superior-slash-parole officer_'… hm…" He grinned again, sharp and pointy teeth on display, "Sounds kinda hot."

After staring at him for a long moment, she sighed and turned around, already heading back towards the elevator. She didn't think there would be perverts in this program. It was a relatively strict program from what she had heard, and from the soldiers she had seen. It was a wonder how this dirty-minded Turian became an elite.

"You're a whore." She muttered as she continued walking, hoping he wouldn't respond or pull rank on her. She always had to have the last word, and that usually got her in trouble. Despite all her arrests and fights it caused, this little urge to have the last word never left.

Luckily for her, Achilles just let out a chuckle, and they continued on to her apartment in silence. It wasn't until she was at the door of her apartment inside the complex, her omnitool raised to unlock the door, that a question popped into mind.

"How did you and that asari bitch get in my room this morning?" She asked as she unlocked the door. She had pretty damn good security; a perk of being the daughter of the entire security of the Citadel. No one ever broke in, and only one even tried. It was some nameless batarian that wanted to kill her in her sleep. He couldn't get past her door.

A quarian friend of hers had personally set up her security system. Her dad was always worried someone would break in, so he had to make sure it was top notch. The door lock would electrocute anyone trying to hack into it. And that's exactly what happened to the batarian. He was fried.

Upon hearing her question, Achilles gave her a look that just seethed 'are you serious?' and let out a chuckle.

"We're N7 Elites for a reason you know. We could have hacked the system or asked a comrade to hack it." He told her, entering her room, this time some-what invited. She would still prefer he wasn't here, but at least he didn't break in this time.

"Could have?" Valentine inquired, questioning his choice of words as she walked upstairs, Achilles remaining in the living room.

"Admiral Anderson gave us the codes for our omnitools." He answered, examining the apartment.

It didn't really look like she was the stepdaughter of an Alliance admiral. There was nothing here to indicate she had any relation to the Alliance. He wasn't sure what he was expecting, but it certainly wasn't posters hanging all over the walls. A few he recognized as movie posters for the '_Blasto_' films, '_Fleet and Flotilla_', and '_Whatever Suits You_'- some romantic comedy about a Quarian and a Volus. The others he didn't recognize, but knew they were old human movies. Those ones were strange to him. A flying woman called '_Wonder Woman_', a man dressed as a bat, and a guy wearing his underwear over tights. Humans were odd.

"Figures." Valentine snorted.

She had been digging through a pile of stuff she had pushed under her bed, and finally found what she was looking for; her pack. Once she had the bag, she began to cram stuff in it. Nulles and Serelles said the bare minimum of necessities. So she packed some clothes and duct tape, before rushing to her bathroom to shove what she considered necessities in. This included a little bit of makeup, toothbrush and toothpaste, a handheld mirror, and some girly-female-woman things. There was no way she was leaving without makeup and a mirror. She wasn't the most feminine person, but she looked dead without a little makeup.

Once she had everything she needed, she zipped the bag, tossed it over her shoulder, and headed back downstairs. Achilles was still staring at the old human movie posters with a puzzled expression. His eyes were currently roaming over a twenty-first century television poster of two guys kissing. He had a raised plate just above his left eye, a similar movement of a raised eyebrow, signaling his confusion.

"That's a poster for an old show that was on over a hundred years ago. I paid a shitload for that thing." Valentine informed him, moving to stand next to the confused Turian. She looked upon the old poster with awe.

"What is it for?" Achilles asked, wondering what the show was called. The title wasn't on the poster. She grinned at the question, as the show was a favorite of hers.

"'_Supernatural_'," She responded with a smile, "The hot guy on the left is a hunter that kills monsters and ghosts. The hot guy he's making out with is a fallen angel. This poster was expensive not only because it's nearly two hundred years old, but also because it's signed by the actors, and it was a limited edition poster." She grinned, seeming proud of the large piece of paper that hung on her wall.

"Ah," Achilles hummed, noticing how she gleamed up at the posters on the wall, "Anyway, are you packed? We only have twenty minutes to get there." He asked.

"Yeah. Ready to go." Valentine answered, gesturing to the pack she had slung over her shoulder. He nodded, then they turned to leave, the door locking behind them.

When they arrived at the docking bay, nearly everyone was there, looking out the windows to see the ship they would be boarding. When there was only five minutes left, everyone was there. At the end of the sixty minutes, the doors to the ship opened. Achilles left her side, and he and the other elites walked forth, into the ship. The rest of the operatives following.

Entering the ship, they found themselves in what appeared to be the training grounds. It was a large floor, and a dirt covered section at the very end of the room, blocked off by glass. She could assume that was the sparring grounds. There was workout equipment and dummies, as well as a small shooting range in the corner. It looked like a good training ground. Much better than the ones she had used in the C-Sec academy.

Though she never actually attended the academy, she often snuck in and sparred with some of the officers on their grounds. She was kind of excited to train here, though she didn't quite know what training entailed. They only said they would be sent on missions and have training when they weren't on missions. They never mentioned what training would be.

It was then that a man stepped up, clad in the Alliance soldier uniform.

"I am Deraan Jones, Captain of the Rebellion. I will be assigning you missions, and nothing else. Your training will be regulated by your team leaders." The man spoke, standing in front of the crowd, "There are only three levels you are allowed on, unless given permission by your leader or myself. These levels are the shuttle bay, where you will suit up and arm up for your mission; the training ground, where we are now; and the crew deck, where you will find the cafeteria, your beds, and the restrooms. Report to the crew deck now and get settled in. Your leaders will instruct you from there. Dismissed." With that, he walked into the elevator, heading up to the CIC.

With a sigh, everyone made their way to the stairs, some moving to wait for the elevator to return. They made their way up to the next floor, the crew deck.

"Womens quarters are on the left. Males on the right. The restrooms are directly across your quarters. The Geth will be residing in the males quarters if they so please." Serelles stated once they were all in the cafeteria of the crew deck.

"Pick a bed and put your stuff in the locker." Misako added.

"When you're done, report to the training grounds." Achilles continued.

"Then the fun will start." Axxe grinned.

After being dismissed, the elite leaders heading down to the training grounds, the operatives made their way to their respective quarters. Valentine was the first the in the women's quarters, and made haste to claim the top bunk nearest the window. Asalia claimed the bunk just below hers. Rosalia took the top on the bed next to hers, with Varieie'Shoreh, who had asked they just call her Varie, taking the bed under Rosalia. The last bunkbed set was left for Serelles and Misako.

Once they had claimed their beds, they opened the lockers that were placed in front of them. Some of them took their time to neatly shash their stuff, others just crammed it in, shut the door, and left. Valentine was one of the others.

She hurried down to the training grounds, grinning from ear to ear when she saw Achilles was standing in front of the sparring zone. She quickly walked over to him, hoping to god that her team would be sparring against one another. Today wasn't so bad after all, it seems.

* * *

So please forgive me for any errors! I have some very unfortunately super-feminine friends that decided to do something to me while I was sleeping. They didn't draw on my face. They glued fake-nails on my fingernails. This makes typing a little weird, as they are nearly a damn inch long and wont cut or break.

So let me know of any errors and I'll try to fix them~

Also, here's the squad sheet:

* * *

Team** Chimera**-

**Leader**: Nectro Veros (Sentinel)

**Squad:**

-Rosalia Amaro (Vanguard)

-Vincent King (Infiltrator)

-Talon Karrde (Adept)

* * *

Team** Delta**-

**Leader**: Serelles T'riion (Adept)

**Squad**:

-Geralt Smith (Soldier)

-Nathaniel Grove (Infiltrator)

-Varieie'Shoreh nar Raaya vas Allerai (Engineer)

* * *

Team **Thresher**-

**Leader**: Urdnot Axxe (Adept)

**Squad**:

-Project Delta (Soldier)

-Asallia Rehearted (Adept)

-T.J Montgomery (Vanguard)

* * *

Team **Thannex**-

**Leader**: Achilles Sparatus (Soldier)

**Squad**:

-Valentine Sanders-Bailey (Adept)

-Zarik'Korris vas Qwib-Qwib nar Shellen (Engineer)

-Elias'Beraforte nar Raaya vas Rannock (Infiltrator)

* * *

Team** Atlas**-

**Leader**: Rio Bilene (Infiltrator)

**Squad:**

-Michael Bauer (Engineer)

-Thomas Fedrill (Vanguard)

-Eons (Soldier)

* * *

Team **Optic**-

**Leader**: Misako T'Veer (Adept)

**Squad:**

-Kassus (Adept)

-Urdnot Rackam (Soldier)

-Selion Zorent (Sentinel)


	4. Chapter 4

So let me know of any errors you spot so I can fix them. Also, special thanks to Kingsredarmy for suggesting some really awesome music that helped me write, as well as all the creators of the OCs! Eventually, I make a list of who created what OC. But as for now, the only OC I have is Valentine. The rest are your guys' creations, and thank you very much for submitting them!

* * *

Her two Quarian teammates were already with Achilles when she arrived. They spared her a glance, but nothing more, before returning to observing the room. She was wondering how this was going to work, really. Two Quarians that seemed to be pretty cold, a flirty and impish Turian, and then her, the hot-headed human.

It seemed like a pretty unusual team. Valentine only wondered how they would even be able to work together. She wasn't really one of those people who played well with others. Frankly, the Quarians, Elias and Zarik, didn't really seem like teamwork people either.

"Alright," Achilles began the second she reached the three, standing at the end of the room. Right behind Achilles was a dirt-covered area, sectioned off by clear glass walls, an unlocked door just behind Zarik. To the right of the door was a weapon stand, with one of each gun type resting on it, and a tub of thermal clips sitting in the corner of the table, "To get started, you're going to show what you can do. In this arena, there's a combat simulator similar to the one on the Citadel, near that casino. It's a lot smaller, obviously, and isn't quite up to grade. Nevertheless, it will conjure up a few Cerberus troopers for each of you, and you're going to kill them." He explained, before walking up to a console that was next to the door.

"You will go in one at a time, but first pick up two weapons from the table. There will be ten Cerberus troopers. Kill them however you like, just get the job done. Once all ten finished, exit the room and the next operative will begin." He told them, before pressing a button on the system, causing ten Cerberus troopers to appear, unmoving, in the glass-encased arena.

"Zarik, you're up first." Achilles called. The buff Quarian nodded, grabbing the submachine gun and pistol from the weapons stand, then walked through the open doors to the arena, leaving the other three to watch through the glass. Once he was in the middle of the arena, he nodded at Achilles, signalling he was ready. The Turian pressed a button and flicked a switch on the system controls, and the Cerberus troopers came to life.

Now that she was up close, Valentine could see that in the dirt-covered room, the arena also had steel plates forced vertically for cover. Zarik quickly dashed to cover, crouching behind one of the lifted plates. The pistol was in his hand, with the SMG latched to his waist. The troopers were shooting at him now, but the cover protected him. His head peaked out of cover, observing where the troopers were located.

Spotting two troopers hiding behind another lifted plate on the other side of the room, he snatched a grenade from his belt, popping the top and throwing it. The grenade landed right between two troopers that had taken cover together, and it went off the second it hit the ground. Both troopers exploded into a twirl of orange data in a mass of electricity, courtesy of the arc grenade.

With eight more to go, Zarik leaned out of cover, firing his pistol towards one of the troopers that was walking towards him. The first shot hit the trooper in the stomach, but another shot impaled it's head, and it turned into data. Omnitool now open, he fired an incineration at one of the troopers that had taken cover. The field of fiery energy hit the trooper, setting it on fire before it disappeared.

Unlatching another arc grenade from his belt, he tossed it over the lifted steel plate without a glance. After hearing the static explosion, he peeked over the plate and saw two more troopers disappearing, returning to data.

Valentine, Elias, and Achilles observed his actions from outside the glass. Valentine was only mildly impressed. She would admit that he was a pretty good fighter, not that a mere ten troopers could really prove such, but she didn't really care for his strategy. From what she could tell, he was an engineer, so his strategy was suitable to him, but it certainly wouldn't work for her or a soldier.

She watched as a trooper came up on the other side of the plate he was using for cover, Zarik's hand dashing out to grab the trooper by the collar of it's armor, pulling it over the lifted plate and pushing it to the ground. With a raised hand, his omnitool flashed back out, a blazing orange field of fire surrounding it. Zarik slammed his incineration omnitool into the downed trooper, effectively turning it back into data.

It wasn't long before he took out the others, and though Valentine absolutely hated to admit it, she admired how quickly and efficiently he finished. She still thought she could do better, of course. This was really just a baby training session. Ten fake Cerberus troopers? She had gone up against a squad of Blue Sun mercs, killed half of them single-handedly, and knocked the other half out to be arrested. C-Sec had arrived before she could deliver the finishing blow.

Elias was next. The second the digital Cerberus troopers appeared, he disappeared, cloaking himself. She couldn't see him, of course, but saw one of the troopers head twist to the left, a loud crack sounding throughout the room, and it's body fell to the ground before vanishing. The troopers were now aware of his presence, but his cloak was still intact. He managed to fire a shot at another one of the troopers and remain undetected. His cloak broke when he released a cryo round, freezing another trooper. Now out in the open, he shot a round at the icicle of a trooper, killing the frozen synthesized trooper.

Now detected, he took cover and began shooting at the remaining troopers. After killing one with a headshot, he reactivated his cloak and left cover. He meleed two troopers, his cloak remaining intact. When there was one trooper left, he used his cloak to get up right behind him, pointed his gun at the back of its head and pulled the trigger. With all the troopers dead, he left the arena and rejoined the other three.

"Val, you're up." Achilles told her, grinning as he used the nickname she previously told him not to use. She glared at him, but didn't say anything, instead moving over to the guns and picking up her two favorites. The shotgun and SMG. She would always use these two when she was showing off at the C-Sec academy. The memory of this popped an urgent thought into her head.

She hadn't informed her parents that she was going to be on a frigate. She hadn't told her dad that she wouldn't be able to make the C-Sec training. Not that she would have gone, anyway, but this was an actual excuse. She just had to hope her step-dad told her dad. Pushing the slight worry from her mind, she grabbed the guns and walked into the arena.

When the troopers appeared, she automatically threw a singularity at the first group she saw. The biotic sphere picked up two of the troopers, tossing them around in the air. She fired a round from her shotgun in to each of them, killing them quickly. When they disappeared, her singularity collapsed.

Picking up her annihilation field, a lovely trick her step-mother taught her, she ran up close to a group of troopers taking cover. Upon seeing her come up behind them, they began to fire at her, but not before they were attacked the by the biotic field surrounding her, clutching on to them like a virus. Their movements slowed, and she shot the three with her shotgun, immediately reloading after the three troopers fell. There were five left, and they were all shooting at her. Her shields had faltered, but she took cover before they could break.

Once her shields were fully regained, she switched out her shotgun for the SMG and moved out of cover. Her annihilation field still tingling around her in a purple aura, she ran forth to the last five, shooting in their general direction. One fell rather quickly, but the other four remained standing. Her field had moved to latch on to another three of them, and she focused her shots on the one left untouched as the health drained from the three troopers that were hit.

After being shot several times by the SMG, the fourth trooper finally fell to the ground, before disappearing into a mass of orange data. Turning from him to the three affected by her field, she disengaged the annihilation field, moving all her biotic energy to her right hand, before pushing it out, towards the three. They were pushed towards the wall. One had already disappeared, but the other two remained alive on the ground. A well-aimed shot took care of that.

With all the troopers gone, she walked out of the arena and set the weapons back on the stand, before returning to her squad. Achilles was giving her a calculating glance, and she couldn't tell what he was thinking. He gave no indication that she had done well, nor that she had done poorly. The quarians were no help, either.

"Alright. Let's start with the criticism, shall we?" Achilles grinned, before moving to stand straight, his eyes focused on Zarik.

"Zarik'Korris, you're too reliant on your omnitool. What if it glitches, or a Cerberus engineer hacks it? It doesn't matter what kind of upgrades you have, something can and will always go wrong. It's good to be able to use multiple forms of attack. You need to work on meleeing." Achilles told him, all humor and fun void in his tone. She hadn't seen the Turian so serious since she met him. Though she had just met him this morning.

And God, she just remembered she never ate breakfast.

'_Shit, now I'm hungry.'_ She thought with a grimace, just hoping to God that they would be able to eat something soon. She had no clue what time it was, but it had been a few hours since Serelles and Achilles burst into her room to kidnap her.

"Elais'Beraforte, you need to rely on skills more than guns. Your gun might be crushed or taken during a fight, or you might run out of ammo. You need to use what skills you have in order to kill and survive without a gun." He continued. Oh God, it's her turn now. She just knew she was gonna be pissed at whatever he said to her. She never could take criticism very well.

"Valentine Sanders-Bailey, you rely on your biotics too much. You need to use your guns more, and work on your aim. It might be easy to fire a shotgun, but SMGs require more precision. Biotics are too unpredictable, and you need to be able to use a gun if worst comes to worst." He informed her, bright green eyes narrowing into a disappointed gaze. She had to bite her lip to keep from lashing out, from telling him that her biotics were stable and perfect, that she could go to London right now and fight off a hundred cannibals with just her biotics.

"You're going to break for lunch, and when you return, we'll do some serious training. Valentine, you'll be helping Zarik with mêlée. Zarik, you'll be helping Elias with harnessing other powers than just the cloak. Elias, you'll be helping Valentine with her aim. Wow, that actually works out perfectly. Great." The humor was slowly returning to the leader, but he still maintained a serious face. After giving the operatives this information, he told them to go to the cafeteria on the crew deck and get some lunch.

Her hunger overriding her anger from her biotics being called 'unpredictable', she nodded, before heading off with all the other operatives to make their way to the cafeteria. She was starving.

The Rebellion apparently had a cook, which was good for such a large crew, but she was pretty sure he was also the janitor. She thought she had seen him exiting the bathroom with cleaning supplies. Hopefully he washes his hands.

Valentine waited in the long line of operatives before getting her lunch from the cook, taking the metal plate carrying grilled chicken, some kind of white mushy slope that she assumed were mashed potatoes, and green beans. Luckily, they were allowed to have beer to wash down what she was sure was going to taste awful. With the tray in her hands, she sat down at one of the two large tables, taking the end seat, across from the female quarian, Varie, if she recalled correctly.

The lanky Asari, Asallia, had taken the spot next to Varie. Much to Valentine's surprise, Zarik decided to sit next to her, despite the numerous seats that remained untaken.

"Alright, I'm going to ask this." Zarik spoke up, looking straight at Asallia, who looked terrified. Her eyes were wide with shock that he was speaking to her, and she was worried what he might ask her. With the words that flowed from his mouth next, she had every right to be worried.

"Why are you so flat-chested?" He asked, his tone dead serious. Though Valentine had wondered the same thing when she first saw Asallia, there were certain things you should never ask a woman. This is one of those things.

Seeing the blood drain from the Asari's face (well, the only indication she had was Asallia's face went from dark purple to a much lighter purple), Valentine felt pretty bad, and became angry at her Quarian teammate. So did Varie, as the female Quarian appeared to be glaring at Zarik. Seeing that Asallia wasn't going to retaliate, Valentine took it upon herself to perform an act of outrage.

She slammed her elbow into his ribs as hard as she could. She might have added a little bit of a biotic push to her attack, but it wasn't much. Just enough to push the Quarian back in his seat and let out a gasp in pain.

"You're not very good at talking to women." Valentine stated, frowning at him.

The color was beginning to return to Asallia's face, and she smiled toward Valentine in thanks. Zarik had taken to clutching his side, and cast what Valentine could really only assume was an angry glance towards her. The white glow in his black visor appearing more narrow than normal, making what seemed to be a glare. Valentine didn't bother to look at him, instead popping the top to her beer and taking a swig before she took a bit of the suspicious white substance on her plate.

"It was a serious question." Zarik defended, as he opened his own bottle of beer (thankfully, it was dextro-friendly) and dropping the straw the cook had given to the Quarian operatives in the bottle. The dextro-amino food on their plates looked less than appetizing, but the two Quarian's seemed to have no problem with it.

"You should never comment on a woman's sensitive spots. It's like calling a woman fat. You're asking to be punched." Valentine snapped at him, sending him a glare of her own. Varie and Asallia nodded in agreement.

"Tch, _women_." He muttered, before he began eating the food in front of him through a tube in his suit. Rather than spite him on that comment, Valentine simply sighed and began digging into her own food, starting with the possible mashed potatoes, figuring she should just get it over with.

Upon taking the first bite, she learned that the mushy white substance was most certainly not mashed potatoes. What it was, she had no idea, and was suddenly very thankful for the provided beer. Light sting of the alcohol running down her throat helped push away the horrible flavor and texture of the white mush. Still, she was starving, so she finished the unknown substance, downing some of her beer after each bite.

"So, you're on Achilles Sparatus' squad, aren't you?" Varie asked Valentine, striking up conversation.

"Unfortunately, yeah." Valentine responded, her tone showing her dislike for the Turian. Both Varie and Asallia seemed shocked at her response.

"'_Unfortunately_'? The man is like a dreamboat in Turian standards, Asari standards too." Asallia told her, "He's good looking and the son of the Turian Councilor." She explained, looking in awe at the thought of the flirtatious Turian. Valentine sat down her fork and looked at Asallia with a blank face.

"He broke into my apartment and cuffed me." She told her bluntly. The Asari seemed to withdraw from her awe, staring at the human in confusion.

"I wasn't wearing pants." Valentine added, causing Varie and Zarik to look at her, the glow of their eyes on the visor bigger than normal, showing shock and confusion.

"Why… exactly, weren't you wearing pants?" Zarik asked, butting into the conversation. Varie nodded, showing she wanted to know the exact same thing. They didn't know if it was a human thing or what, but they did know humans don't normally walk around without their bottom clothes on.

"I tend to take off random articles of clothing in my sleep." Valentine informed them, picking her fork back up and starting on the grilled chicken. It tasted much better than the mystery mush.

"That's unusual, right?" Varie asked, wondering if it was a human thing or just something Valentine did. At Valentines nod, she breathed a sigh of relief, having been worried that by asking her question she might have offended someone.

"But… why?" Asallia asked, tilting her head to the side in questioning. She found it hard to imagine why someone would take random articles of clothing off in the middle of their sleep. It might make a little more sense if you were sleeping with a lover, but there's not much of an explanation for doing in your sleep, alone. Actually, even doing that while sleeping with a lover would be weird.

"I dunno. Anyway, Achilles is an asshole. Be glad you're not on his team." Valentine muttered, taking another bite of the grilled chicken.

"What do you think about him, Zarik?" Asallia asked the now silent Quarian at the table. He looked up and grunted, shaking his head.

"He's unprofessional and an asshole." He stated simply, before returning to his beer.

"Unprofessional?" Varie inquired, trying to pry more out of him.

"Heard him flirting with Valentine, here," He jerked his head towards the redheaded human, "And have heard about him 'sexing up' some officials on the Turian hierarchy." He added.

"So, what about Axxe? What's he like?" Valentine asked, dropping the subject of her own leader, despite agreeing with everything Zarik said, and turning the conversation to Asallia, questioning her about her squad's Krogan leader.

"He's very gruff, but is actually quite funny and nice. It's strange for a Krogan, but a nice kind of strange." Asallia stated, smiling, before turning her attention to Varie.

"What about you? You're on Serelles T'riion's squad, right?" She asked the jumpy Quarian. Valentine groaned at the Asari bitch's name, still having a large dislike for the Elite, mainly because she kicked her ass, though Valentine would never admit it.

"I am. She's very strict and always keeps a straight face. I don't mind too much, but it is really nerve-wracking because I'm never sure if I did well or poorly." Varie informed them, her hands never stopped moving as she spoke, making useless gestures.

The three women chatted for a while longer, Zarik occasionally butting in his own input, which, despite usually being rude or insulting, helped keep the conversation going. By the time they all finished their food, their lunch hour was up. Captain Jones arrived on the crew deck and told them to head back down to the training floor. Since they had all finished most, if not all, of their food, they arrived at the training floor rather quickly.

Valentine had to split away from Varie and Asallia, heading separate ways to reach their leaders. Zarik walked by her side the whole way back to Achilles, keeping silent as he walked. When they did reach Achilles, Elias was already there, standing ready.

"Time for some actual training. Today, we're doing physical training. Starting tomorrow, we'll be teaming up with Team Optic, as some of the operatives have the same weaknesses you guys have." Achilles informed them, the word 'weaknesses' pissing Valentine off. She refused to think she had any weaknesses, no matter what Achilles told her.

"Now, on the ground." He demanded. The three operatives already knew what he wanted of them, and though Valentine was too keen on following orders, she did as she was told and got on the ground, the tips of her toes and the palms of her hands flat on the floor, keeping her body elevated in a push-up position. Push-ups weren't something she normally did. When she decided to hang around the C-Sec academy-never really taking any training courses or classes- she would work with some of the humans and turians during their physical training. Mostly because she didn't have much else to do. The good bars and clubs didn't open until night, leaving her day schedule pretty open.

"You'll be doing push-ups for the next hour. And none of that girly, on-the-knees push-ups. Now get started. I'm going to talk to Misako about the plan for tomorrow." He grunted, only staying around for a minute just to make sure they had gotten started on their push-ups, before walking off to the shooting range.

"Like I said, unprofessional asshole." Zarik muttered, pushing himself up and then down, repeating the same action over and over.

"Never said I didn't agree." Valentine reminded him as she did much the same, her body only a foot away from the Quarian's. Elias was working on the other side of Zarik, remaining quiet.

Rather than completing their hour of push-ups (which had gotten pretty freaking awful after half an hour on Valentine's end) in silence, Zarik and Valentine had taken to talking. It was mostly gossip about some of the other operatives and the leaders, though, and Zarik always a rude quip to insert.

* * *

After making sure his operatives were already starting their push-ups, Achilles walked off to the shooting range in the corner, spotting the leader of Team Optic, Misako, observing her team as they shot rounds at the holographic targets. She watched them closely until Achilles rested a talon on her shoulder, breaking the focus she had on simply observing every shot that was fired.

"Achilles." She greeted, turning from her team to face the turian, "Ready to discuss the training plan?" She asked, to which he responded with a nod.

"Valentine uses her biotics too much, and isn't good with long-range, especially when it comes to accuracy. Zarik relies too much on his powers, and not enough on mêlée and weaponry. Elias only uses his gun and his cloak, so he needs to learn to use his omnitool as a weapon." Misako nodded along, taking every word in. Her mind was already evaluating a plan that would suit both teams best.

"Kassus seems to have much the same problem as Valentine. His biotics are his main power, and his aim at any distance longer than the barrel of a shotgun is, well, off." She looked over her shoulder to the younger Turian in question, nodding her head towards the holographic target. He had fired five shots from a pistol at a range of thirty feet. All the shots were nonfatal, landing either in the arms or legs.

Achilles took notice of this, and nodded, thinking about what to do with the psychotic Turian. The N7 higher-ups and informed all the Elite leaders of Kassus' previous N7 history, and none of it was very good. He was placed on the Special Operations Tactics Squad not only in hopes of keeping away from trouble, but also to keep an eye on him. Achilles was unsure of how the crazed Turian would work with his own squad. He was placed in Misako's squad for several reasons, mostly in hope that her motherly nature would calm him down a bit. It seemed to, but they couldn't be too sure. Achilles had no idea how Kassus would react to the brute of a Quarian or the hot-headed human he had on his side, figuring Elias wouldn't be a problem.

"Rackam's situation is similar to that of Elias', in that he only uses his gun and mêlée, never taking advantage of his own biotic powers." She informed him, glancing back to the shooting range to see to Krogan headshot the target.

"Selion is in relation to Zarik, as he relies too much on his omnitool and pistol. He is not suitable for close-combat situations." She added. With this information out, the two stood in silence, watching over their teams as they thought of a plan.

"So here's what I'm thinking," Achilles began, continuing when he saw Misako nod, "Valentine and Kassus pair up to work on their marksmanship. Rackam and Elias pair up to work on using their powers to the best of their abilities. Elias and Selion pair up to work on meleeing. Elias and Rackam can help Valentine and Kassus with shooting one session, then the next session; Valentine and Kassus help them with their melee. Meanwhile, you and I can help Zarik and Selion with their powers." He stated his plan.

"Yes, I was thinking rather the same." Misako nodded in agreement, "When shall we start?" She asked.

Achilles moved his eyes back over to his own team, seeing the three operatives still doing push-ups, just as he had commanded. They still had about another half hour, and they were still going strong. His eyes focused around Verana, searching for a purple aura that signaled she was using her biotics to boost herself, but found nothing, which was slightly surprising. After less than a day of knowing her, he had already figured out how much she loved her biotics.

"Tommorow. Axxe suggested we just do a physical fitness training day for the first day. He wants to let them know this is gonna be Hell from here on out." Achilles replied, his eyes darting over to Warlord, who was currently resting one giant foot on T.J's back, making the push-ups he was doing that much harder.

The Krogan was pretty tough on his team, though most of his 'tough-love', as Achilles had taken to calling it, was directed toward the lone human male of the group. While T.J and Asallia did pushups, the Geth, Delta, was in the arena, dodging attacks from five synthesised Troopers. He wasn't attacking, as per Axxe's orders, simply dodging the shots by climbing all around the walls.

"That sounds like a plan. Very well, we shall begin the paired training tomorrow morning." With a nod, Misako returned to her squad, and Achilles returned to his. There was fifteen minutes left of pushups, and he had to make sure they weren't cheating somehow.

* * *

All the teams were on pushups now, though Achilles' squad had just finished. They had spent a full hour doing nothing but push-ups. Valentine was already starting to feel sore, and they weren't even halfway through the day yet. Captain Jones had informed them that the basic training schedule was from six in the morning to seven at night, with a few breaks in between. Though the overall schedule was decided by their leaders, and Valentine had no idea what Achilles was going to have them do from here on out.

When they finished their pushups, they got to running. Of course, there wasn't enough room on the floor for them to run laps like she would occasionally do at the C-Sec academy, not with all the teams scattered through the grounds, so they had a treadmill-system. It was just one large treadmill, spread across the left wall of the ship. It could fit about seven people, but they all had to go the same speed. Which kind of sucked, because it meant a lot less showing off on Valentines' end.

Achilles really seemed to be pushing them to their limits, trying to find out what their limits were. He had them start on the treadmill at eight miles an hour. He wouldn't let them stop, until they were practically hyperventilating. Valentine was a pretty good runner, and lasted longer than Elias and Zarik, but even she could only go less than ten minutes at eight miles an hour without stopping. At least Elias and Zarik had some function in their suit that regulated the temperature. She had sweat dripping down her face, and making the strands of red hair that fell loose from her ponytail stick to her face. It was gross. She didn't like being gross.

They were given a five minute breather before they were pushed in front of punching bags. Achilles had no mercy. He wasn't even training with them, he was just watching them or scanning through a datapad (Zarik had figured it was porn) while they wore themselves out. Casting a glance at some of the other operatives, they saw that Achilles wasn't the only hard ass. Though at least Axxe had the decency to join in and participate in the workout.

They had just finished punching and kneeing a giant bag of sand for another hour when dinner was finally called, and they were released for the day. Obviously, all the operatives knew that N7 training would be tough. Some of them looked perfectly fine, if not a little tired, but others were practically zombies as they caught the elevator or walked up the stairs to the crew deck. Of course, amongst the perfectly fine operatives were the Geth, who didn't have to do any physical work at all. They had spent most of their time observing their teammates, calculating strategies, and what not.

For dinner, it was corn, something that resembled steak (but Valentine couldn't be too sure, after the mashed potatoes/white mystery substance incident), and asparagus, as well as a bottle of beer. She took the plate gratefully, despite not being entirely sure what the main entree was. She was, once again, starving. And still very sweaty and gross. She really needed a shower. But food first.

Seeing Varie and Asallia already at the table, Valentine took the spot directly across from the lanky Asari, who smiled at her as she sat down. Even Asallia had sweat dripping down her neck, and she looked light she might fall asleep right then and there. Zarik took the seat to her right, across from the only other human woman, Rosalia, who was already chowing down on the steak-like substance like it was her last meal.

Seeing dark plates snatch the seat on her left, Valentine turned her head to glare at what she expected to be Achilles. She was surprised when she saw the much darker, almost black, plates of Kassus. He grinned at her when he caught her eye, the blue lines that stretched through his skin from what she figured were cybernetics shining brightly in the dim light of the cafeteria.

"So, a little birdy told me we're going to be shooting buddies." He told her, his grin flashing all his pointy white teeth, oddly reminding her of the Cheshire Cat from her favorite movie as a child, Alice In Wonderland. She wasn't a big fan of the remake with a volus Alice, preferring the century old Disney film.

"A what?" Varie asked, confused about what a 'birdy' was and why it told him that.

"It's a human saying." Rosalia explained after swallowing the last bite of the might-be-steak, now turning to toss down the corn, eating it with just as much ferocity.

"Ugh. It's bullshit. My biotics are perfect, and always come to par. My aim doesn't matter, my distance does, and I can use my biotics to get up close. This whole marksmanship thing is shit." Valentine complained, opening up her beer and considering to chug the whole thing right then and there, but choosing to save it in order to force down the meat that she wasn't quite sure was really meat.

"Agreed. Misako seems to think my own biotics are unpredictable, despite being a biotic herself. She should know better. I'd be lying if I said I never felt like shoving my gun down her throat, HA!" He laughed darkly, the sudden sound startling Varie and making her jump in her seat.

"Glad we're on the same page, then." Valentine grinned right back at him, before turning back to her food, finally deciding to take a chance with the could-be-steak. He hummed in agreement, before starting on his own food. To her surprise, the steak was actually steak. It didn't taste great, but it wasn't too bad. It definitely could have been worse.

They ate mostly in silence, too busy shoving their mouths with food and too tired to be bothered with much conversation. With less talking, they finished their food quickly. When everyone was finished eating, it was eight o'clock. The ship was going by a twenty-four hour day, and that was what their schedule was planned through.

The very second Valentine was finished eating, she went straight into the women's bathroom. She was sweaty and icky and gross, and she deserved a shower. There were six curtained shower stalls (one of which was clearly meant specifically for quarians, as it was pretty much a tiny little room with a decontamination field inside), which worked perfectly as there were only six females. Valentine left to retrieve a pair of clean clothes and other necessities for her shower, including her favorite shampoo and conditioner, because she was most certainly not going without silky smooth hair. She could give up drinking every night, clubbing every night, getting laid every night, but not soft hair. That is one small thing she refused to let go. Besides, there weren't any rules against it.

So after grabbing everything she needed and hanging her clothes up on one of the six hooks on the wall next to the showers, she got in one of the free shower stalls and began to wash away all the sweat from training. Asallia, Rosalia, and Varie were quick to follow in Valentine's footsteps, picking their own stalls- Varie taking the sterile shower meant for her- and washing away the day's training.

She was pretty used to cold showers, mostly because she liked them, but also because she managed to forget to pay some heating bill, so a military shower was no problem for her. She took as long as she needed, idly wondering how many shower stalls the guys had, as they were quite a bit more males than females in the N7 Special Ops.

* * *

"Hurry up already, runt." Axxe growled, snapping at the humans that were talking an obnoxiously long time in the showers. There were only ten shower stalls, one of which was for Quarians, but sixteen guys that needed to shower. The humans had gotten there first, snatching six of the stalls, Rio, Selion, and Nectro hogging the other three. Elias had taken the Quarian shower before Zarik could, leaving Talon, Achilles, Kassus, Axxe, Rackam, and Zarik to wait for them to finish. And humans took an unbelievable amount of time to shower.

"You're all bunch of fucking women." The brash Krogan grunted, displeased with having to wait.

"You're the reason I'm taking so long. I had your filthy boot on my back." T.J retaliated with a scoff, eliciting a warning growl from his leader.

"The women all get their own shower stalls." Achilles stated, slightly jealous of the women. Of course, they only got their own because there was so few of them.

"Lucky them. Now hurry up in there, you shit-headed pansies! You don't get out soon and you're gonna be in for an even worse day tomorrow!"


End file.
